Question

How are most cases resolved?

1. Most cases go to trial.

2. Most civil cases settle, but most criminal cases go to trial.

3. Most criminal cases end in a guilty plea, but most civil cases go to trial.

4. Most civil cases settle and most criminal cases end in a guilty plea.

Answer 1

Most civil cases settle and most criminal cases end in a guilty plea.

Most civil cases settle due to following reasons :

1. Going into trail in a civil case involves huge expenses like hefty payments to lawyers, expenses on bringing witnesses into trial room again and again and it also consumes time which implies a sort of cost as well.

2. When a civil case enters into a trial, privacy goes for a toss as the court documents become a public record and anyone can go through them.

3. Deciding to go through trial can bring prolonged stress on all the parties involved.

4. It is almost impossible to predict the judgement and the losing party can appeal a court judgment , stretching the process even longer.

So above reasons counsel the parties involved in a civil case to settle it.

Most criminal cases end in a guilty plea because of following reasons :

1. Defendants in criminal cases agree to plead guilty in exchange for an agreement by the prosecutor

a) To drop one or more charges,

b) Reduce a charge to a less serious offense, or

c) Recommend to the judge a specific sentence acceptable to the defense.

2. Criminal trials can take days, weeks, or sometimes months, while guilty pleas can be arranged in a very short period of time which reduce pressure on both prosecutors and judges to settle cases quickly.

3. In a criminal trial, the onus of proof  is on the prosecutors and may result in acquittal of defendants.

4. For defendants, paying high fees to lawyers is also a big issue.

So due reasons mentioned above it has been observed that over 90% of cases end in guilty pleas.